Sparking Change: electricity consumption, carbon emissions and working time

At a glance:

A new study from the Autonomy has found that a three-day weekend (4 day week) would reduce UK carbon emissions by 117 thousand tons of CO2 per week (the equivalent to removing over 1.3 million cars off the road annually).

Simply making Friday a day off, the UK would reduce its carbon emissions stemming from electricity production by up to 24% – reducing the entire energy sector’s emissions by 5%.

This reduction in electricity use would be compounded by the amount of carbon-intensive commuting that would be eliminated due to a four-day week (or three-day weekend). Reduced electricity use and fewer cars on the road would make a serious dent in our carbon footprint.

It provides yet another reason why shorter working weeks would swiftly and substantially contribute to meeting the target of reducing the UK’s overall carbon footprint by 7.6% each year for the next decade.

“This paper is an important intervention into both the debate around working time, but also the debate around the green economy and any plan to decarbonise the UK. Becoming a green, sustainable society will require a number of strategies – a shorter working week being just one of them. Nonetheless, as Denes Csala’s paper and other research has shown, working time reduction is a relatively cheap, yet high-impact strategy for governments to adopt. Meeting our carbon reduction targets is not up for debate – this is the planet that we live on after all. We hope that nuanced research such as this can help track a path as to how to get there efficiently and in a way that works for the country as a whole”